Techniques have been developed to expand a richness in display and interaction with digital content. Examples of this include virtual reality and augmented reality. In augmented reality, a user experience is created by a computing device that employs digital content (e.g., virtual objects) to augment a user's direct view of a physical environment in which the user is disposed. In other words, this direct view of the physical environment is not recreated as part of an augmented reality environment but rather the user actually “sees what is there.” The digital content is then used to augment the user's view of this physical environment, such as to play a building game of virtual blocks on a physical table top. On the other hand, in virtual reality the computing device generates a user experience that uses digital content to recreate a user's environment such that the physical environment is not viewable by the user. Accordingly, in virtual reality an entirety of the user's view of created virtually as part of the environment by the computing device.
Although user experiences in both virtual and augmented reality may expand a richness of what may be viewed by the user, both of these experiences have similar drawbacks regarding how a user may interact with virtual objects included as part of these experiences. In augmented reality, for instance, the user is not provided with haptic feedback regarding interaction with virtual object shown as part of the user's physical environment, such as to grasp a virtual block. This causes the user's experience with the virtual objects to differ from that of actual physical objects that are viewable by the user.
This drawback is further exacerbated in virtual reality in which an entirety of the user's environment is recreated through use of virtual objects, such that the user may be unable to differentiate between virtual objects used to recreate physical objects in the physical environment and virtual objects that do not recreate such objects. Additionally, when configured as an immersive (e.g., 360-degree view) environment, the size may make it difficult to navigate and move digital content using conventional techniques. Accordingly, user interaction as part of augmented and virtual reality user experiences may feel unnatural and limited as compared with user interaction in an actual physical environment.